Last Tuesday, I met Alison for lunch at
the London Book Fair (I attended as my alter-ego, neetsmarketing) to talk about the HNS conference publicity, and later on that day, I
went to the launch for Alison’s latest thriller in the Roma Nova series,
INSURRECTIO, where I got my hands on a signed paperback, and met up with some lovely author friends. Here's a selfie from our lunch:

Thank you, Alison for taking the time to write this post, and over to you!...

Getting organised – taming your research, by Alison Morton

Research. Yeah, I know, a sticky
subject in more ways than one. Writing of any sort needs research whether it’s
a modern shoes-and-shopping story, fantasy, crime thriller or a historical magnum
opus. Readers will engage with your story as long as you keep their trust.
So your story has to be plausible (even the elves...). Strongly coupled with this is the internal consistency of your book’s world,
especially if it’s historical, science fiction or gritty urban crime. Readers
investing their precious reading time in a rather strange place is high-risk
for them. So you must build that world carefully and thoroughly or your
credibility will crumble.

Leaving aside the cracking plot you’ve
dreamed up, its setting has to be woven into the story. You have to know the
scenery, weather, what the inhabitants look like, their clothes, beliefs and
values, do they use buses, trains, horses, or just plod everywhere on foot? Can
they vote and/or are they subject to a lord or lady’s whim?

Where do you start looking? What
resources do you have or can reach without breaking the bank? And how do you
organize what you’ve amassed?

Let’s get practical!

1. Identify what do you need
For my latest Roma Nova thriller, INSURRECTIO, I already had a good general
background in history, politics and economics with geography thrown in and a
small specialist library of books on Roman life, women in Rome, and modern
military women from writing previous books in the series. But for this new one I
needed information about military tactics and weaponry, police procedures,
journey times, internal government procedures, mounting a coup d’état, dictatorships and resistance organisation.

Of course, if you’re writing a romance around an ice-cream shop, you’ll need to
dig into recipes, different types of milk, cream and flavourings, food handling
and hygiene standards, tourism, supply systems within the catering industry,
landlord and tenancy regulations, employment law, shop-fitting, weather
patterns, etc.

You may already know something about those topics; I’d been in the military and
studied women in military roles and living under a dictatorship, but I sat down and read
up on the things I knew I’d forgotten. My advice is to immerse yourself in the
period/world first so that your writing flows naturally when you come to draft the
story.

2. Focus
your research
Draw up a list of questions with spaces in-between, then sit down and
write a short paragraph in answer to each. For example, what kind of climate
does your setting have? In Roma Nova, it’s a merge of mountain with Mediterranean,
which means longish summers; snow, high alps and pine trees in the mountains;
grapes and olives in the lower land; and dust and heat in mid-August in the
city. This will not only help your brain remember specifics subconsciously as
you write, but will be a valuable reference tool if you forget something!

3. Note
your sources

Always jot down where you found your
information whether online or in the library or notes taken at a workshop. If
you’re a normal human being, you will forget. If I take a photo of something
fabulous in a museum, I always take one of the label; was that vase from the 1st
century BC or AD? If your heroine is looking through a contract, what’s the
reference for the Sales and Supply of Goods Act being replaced by the Consumer
Rights Act? And where did you read the difference between a Glock and a Sig
Sauer?

4. Don’t exclude anything Printed sources are obvious, but don’t discount the Internet. Wikipedia
has improved exponentially in the past few years and the bibliographies and
references at the end of articles can yield rich pickings. These references can
be easily stored - see 4 below – but be
ready to record and organise photos, podcasts, film and interviews. A
smartphone is very handy for this as long as you download content to your
online storage as soon as you can.

Protopage

5. Files or files?
I’m a digital creature, so I tend to photograph, scan and store everything
online. But I back up to Dropbox, to an external hard disk called Time Machine
and lastly, to a remote storage server ‘somewhere in Kansas’. (Actually, it’s
in the Netherlands.) Instead of bookmarks for virtual links, I use Protopage computer
desktop organiser where I can organize my references into discrete
groupings: my books, Roman, other
research, writing technique, dictionaries and glossaries, marketing/PR,
self-publishing and that ubiquitous one ‘General’. Protopage is a free
programme and you can just scroll down if you don’t want to see the adverts at
the top. www.protopage.com

I have a few
paper-based files, mostly newspaper clippings, brochures, maps including an FAA
one of flight paths over Washington and New York – absolutely mesmerising! I
carry a notebook when I’m out to jot down overheard conversations or little
gestures people make, and to note information and sources other people give me.
I’ve usually taken a photo on my phone if it’s a building. And of course
reference books are the stalwarts of research on which tend to use Post-it
notes; I simply cannot bring myself to write on them.

My last piece of advice:
whether writing historical, contemporary, crime or alternate history like my
Roma Nova thrillers, be meticulous and methodical, whatever method you choose
to organise your research.

Thank you for such a helpful post, Alison. I look forward to using your tips to re-organise my mountain of research books on the eighteenth century, newspaper articles, country house guidebooks, online articles and scribbled notes! Protopage looks especially helpful. Congratulations on the launch of INSURRECTIO, and best wishes for continued success with your novels!

Find out
more about Alison and INSURRECTIO below:

INSURRECTIO

‘The second
fall of Rome?’
Aurelia Mitela, ex-Praetorian and imperial councillor in Roma Nova, scoffs at
her intelligence chief when he throws a red file on her desk.

But early 1980s
Roma Nova, the last province of the Roman Empire that has survived into the
twentieth century, has problems – a ruler frightened of governing, a
centuries-old bureaucracy creaking for reform and, worst of all, a rising
nationalist movement with a charismatic leader.

Horrified when
her daughter is brutally attacked in a demonstration turned riot, Aurelia tries
to rally resistance to the growing fear and instability. But it may already be
too late to save Roma Nova from meltdown and herself from entrapment and
destruction by her lifelong enemy.…

Alison
Morton's bio

Even before she
pulled on her first set of combats, Alison Morton was fascinated by the idea of
women soldiers. Brought up by a feminist mother and an ex-military father, it
never occurred to her that women couldn’t serve their country in the armed
forces. Everybody in her family had done time in uniform and in theatre all
over the globe.

Busy in her day
job, Alison joined the Territorial Army in a special communications regiment
and left as a captain, having done all sorts of interesting and exciting things
no civilian would ever know or see. Or that she can talk about, even now…

But something
else fuels her writing… Fascinated by the mosaics at Ampurias (Spain), at their
creation by the complex, power and value-driven Roman civilisation she started
wondering what a modern Roman society would be like if run by strong women.

Excellent advice, Alison. I'll have to investigate Protopage as my research is often a horrible jumble by the time I've finished and often impossible to find that elusive, almost forgotten link I need.

About Me

Writer and Freelance Social Media Manager with clients in the world of books. Used to work in the City, as manager to a structured derivatives documentation team. Studied French and Italian at university and lived in Siena, Italy. Writer of historical fiction set in 18thc Venice and English country houses. Short story, The Reminiscence Tea highly commended in Feb 2017 issue of Writers' Forum magazine. Associate Member of the Romantic Novelists' Association. Former Social Media Manager for the Historical Novel Society (Aug 2014- 4 Sept 2016) and Publicity Officer for #HNSOxford16. Find out more via my website: www.neetsmarketing.com